Hack
by DrKCooper
Summary: Set somewhere during "#TBT" (03x06). Janequeline


_Disclaimer: All recognizable _The Bold Type_ characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners including, but not limited to Freeform. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fan fiction story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No financial gain is associated with the publishing of this story. No copyright infringement is intended._

Author's note:

"Jane, if this is about the sandwiches, it's ancient history. You girls didn't even have to tell me. I appreciate your honesty, but it isn't necessary in this case," Jacqueline Carlyle was rummaging around her office on the hunt for a stylus for her tablet.

"Actually, I'm here about something a bit more personal," Jane stood inside the doorway watching her boss.

"Something more personal than nearly killing a man with a peanut allergy?" the editor-in-chief turned and looked at Jane, offering a lop-sided smile, before returning to the task at hand.

It took Jane a minute or two to realize what was being searched for. When she did realize what was needed, she, too, began looking in various places throughout the office. Kneeling next to the couch she ran a hand underneath the couch and touched the object that had caused such a commotion.

"Is this what you're looking for?" Jane asked, holding it out for the blonde who now stood before her, towered over her, really.

When Jacqueline's hand reached for the stylus, it connected with Jane's tiny hand. Consciously or not, Jane allowed her fingers to linger there for a moment. Jacqueline's angle offered a view of a hint of cleavage and irresolute emotions in deep, dark eyes.

"Something personal," Jacqueline said, unable to form it into a question or pull away from the writer. It had been a crazy-making day at the office and she didn't know if the way she was looking at Jane was due to that particular chaos or the simple fact that it was Jane.

"It isn't about the sandwiches, exactly," Jane moved to stand though uncomfortable either way.

"The hack," Jacqueline crossed her arms, stylus still in hand.

"I know it isn't any of my business," Jane started only to be stopped by her boss.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Jacqueline asked.

"What?" Jane received a response she was unprepared for.

"They are your emails, Jane," Jacqueline tilted her head.

"_My_ emails?" Jane was extremely confused.

"Isn't that why you're here? To talk about them? We can consider them ancient history like the sandwiches as far as I'm concerned. Four years is a long time."

Jane now knew they were definitely not talking about Jacqueline's emails or anything to do with sandwiches.

"You…uh…you read my emails?" Jane was dreadfully embarrassed.

"Not all of them, of course. I'm not a robot. The sheer amount of email in this place is stunning. I've never been so glad that we've moved to texting for the simplest things. The entirety of Andrew's email is logistics—dates, times, places. He really should live a little," Jacqueline laughed.

"Like you?" Jane spoke before thinking.

"You're going to have to be direct, I'm afraid. I have no idea what we are talking about," Jacqueline moved to put the stylus down on her desk.

"The advertiser," Jane stated.

"Bobby?" Jacqueline's brow furrowed, but for a split second her gorgeous face had lit up. Jane didn't miss it. She couldn't.

"I gather that the two of you are…friends?" Jane asked.

"We are. We have been for two decades. I don't understand, aside from the sandwiches, what this has to do with the hack. Enlighten me?" she leaned against her desk and repeated the crossing of her arms. Jane took a few steps toward the blonde and never let her eyes get away.

"In scanning emails, did you happen to see all of yours?" the writer asked, worrying her lip as she did.

"Lawyers upstairs were doing the majority of it. I did a few searches for specific names to make sure I didn't need to do damage control," she answered, clearly now wondering if there was something she hadn't caught. "Jane, did I miss something that I need to address with the board?"

"I don't think the board will be the problem," the brunette began. "But you may need to explain a few incredibly flirtatious emails from Bobby."

Looking at her feet, the editor appeared to not require searching for memory of the emails, rather she did seem to be searching for words to explain it.

"Like I said, it's none of my business and you don't have to explain."

"We aren't having an affair, if that's what you are wondering," Jacqueline volunteered. Looking up at Jane, she was momentarily lost in the writer's eyes and this brought back a memory from a few years earlier. "Do you remember when you and I first met?"

"Of course, I was in awe and you were gracious," Jane smiled. "Why?"

"Around then, I was going through something, Ian and I weren't in a good place. I was beginning to feel too comfortable at _Scarlet. _It wasn't challenging me like it had. Then—" she cut herself off quickly, looked away before she continued, "—someone came into my life and I loved it again, the writing, the magazine, the company."

"Bobby?" Jane asked, her voice quiet and her nerves loud.

"No," Jacqueline seemed to relax with that word and the writer didn't know why. Was she concerned about Jane thinking or knowing about an affair? With that off the table is that why the editor could now relax? Jane really wasn't sure.

"And the emails?" Jane's voice was louder, her nerves louder still.

"He was kind, attentive. What I was going through had to be downplayed and in the meantime, I needed an…outlet."

The way Jacqueline said 'outlet' made Jane wonder if they weren't still talking about an affair or at least the idea of an affair that never was. It wouldn't make since for Jacqueline to behave flirtatiously with Bobby if the affair weren't with him.

"I am not judging you; you have to believe that," Jane started. "But I don't understand."

Jacqueline sighed. She was dancing around the real matter and all it was doing was causing the entire conversation to become a wreck.

"I couldn't direct my interest toward the person I wanted to," she began her confession. "I felt a lot of things; I wanted a lot of things. Nothing could be had. I directed my attention and, yes, flirtation toward Bobby because, well, Bobby and I are old friends. It was nice to receive compliments again. To know that someone found me… He and I were once more. Before my marriage. And I knew it was harmless what he and I were doing. He had recently married again. He and Ian weren't friends. It was an outlet that couldn't hurt me or him or my job. It also meant that my attention was often pulled to him and away from what could not be. That, obviously, was before all of this. I never dreamed our office would be hacked and all of my emails would be out there for anyone to read."

"I never knew there was a low point with Ian," Jane gave a sympathetic look that struck Jacqueline all wrong.

"Low points. A marriage is a lot of work and there are going to be low points. You'll experience that one day no matter how much you fight against it. You make your way through the low points because you remember the high points and have faith they'll return."

Jacqueline stood straight, correcting her posture and placing her hands at her sides. She looked at the floor for a moment before continuing.

"They don't always return," she didn't look at Jane as she added this.

Her message was received loud and clear. The Carlyle marriage was floundering.

"Knowing what you do now about the hack, would the outcome have been equal had you simply flirted with the person you wanted?" Jane had become fidgety talking about Jacqueline's wants so directly. Anytime she thought about Jacqueline as a sexual being she wound up with sweaty palms and fluttering low in her abdomen.

"Equal in fallout?" the editor asked. "As of now, you're the only one who has spotted those emails. What fallout? It won't be an issue with Bobby, certainly not if his nearly dying because of a sandwich didn't bother him. He's in the midst of a divorce as it is. It won't be an issue with Ian, he couldn't care less. With the board? I think they have bigger issues on their hands."

"But you said you couldn't direct your interest at a particular person and whatever it was had to be downplayed. You must think that the fallout from that interest getting out then or now because of the hack would have been great," Jane asked curiously.

"If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have found myself in the position of flirting with him."

Jacqueline stopped, her blue eyes searching Jane's for any indication that they were on the same page or even within the same chapter.

"Can we talk about your emails now?" Jacqueline's eyebrow and lip twitched simultaneously causing Jane's heart to rise in her throat.

"Are we done talking about…you?" Jane hesitated as she wasn't sure how to describe what exactly they had been talking about. Much of what had been unsaid was doing the real talking.

"No, not exactly. That's the 'if I knew then what I know now' part," the blonde stepped toward the writer who became immediately flustered and unable to respond. "You've had a great deal to say about me over your years here. I dare say you've said more about me in your emails than any other single person in this office has. Though I suspect if Patrick stays here for a bit, he will surpass me in that designation."

"I'm sorry, Jacqueline," Jane panicked. "Obviously, if I had any idea that they wouldn't remain private I wouldn't have written them. Even more importantly, I shouldn't be sending my personal commentary to friends while I should be working."

"Jane, honey, take a breath. I'm not reprimanding you. And you clearly don't know to what emails I am referring."

Jacqueline was getting a kick out of this and had to reel herself in for fear of getting too much entertainment out of this at Jane's expense. The writer was clueless and uncomfortable.

"When I said around the time you started at _Scarlet_, I wasn't being entirely honest. Yes, around then Ian and I were in a low point, but it was _exactly_ when you started at _Scarlet_ that I had to start downplaying what I was feeling," Jacqueline took another step forward only to step back, again out of fear she was making Jane uncomfortable or that once all of this dawned on Jane, she would run. "When I said if I knew then what I know now, I meant if I knew what was in your emails. If I knew what was in your head back then I might not have acted on what I was feeling, but I may have cut myself some slack. I might have refrained from making things a bit complicated with Bobby. I can't know that, can I?"

"Oh, shit." Jane exclaimed and her face turned flaming red.

"There it is," the blonde chuckled. "No need to be embarrassed, Jane."

Jane stepped around one of the chairs in front of Jacqueline's desk and flopped down. Her head was in her hands as it dawned on her what she had written about her boss. The second year she worked for the magazine was a strange one for Jane. She'd settled into her internship; she was applying to be an assistant and she was totally infatuated with her boss. While she remembered that period of time, she hadn't thought about the emails she had sent to Kat and Sutton repeatedly throughout. She had always sent emails ranting about work related things, more so recently because of Patrick, but back then her emails were those of a lovesick schoolgirl. She shook her head in her hands and froze when a hand came to rest on her shoulder blade.

"We all say things we regret," Jacqueline spoke, her eyes watching her own hand as it touched Jane's warm back. She could feel her rapid heartbeat beneath. "We don't always have them brought back to our attention years later, thankfully."

Jane's head shot up.

"I don't regret them, Jacqueline. Well, I regret that a few things I've written ever saw the light of day and didn't stay in the confines of my mind. I don't regret that I ever felt that way."

When the blonde's hand pulled away, Jane felt like the air had been let out.

"I may end up regretting saying that…" her sigh stopped the second she noticed Jacqueline was getting down to her level, kneeling in front of the brunette.

"If you had said any of those things to my face that you wrote to Kat and Sutton, Jane, I would have had a terrible time downplaying it. I would have had a hard time staying true to my professional responsibilities. I can't picture where either of our careers might have gone. Yes, I would have managed to keep things less complicated with a dear friend. Yes, I would have found a reason to stop the ups and downs with my husband then rather than years later. All I know is that if I had known about how you felt about me, I would have behaved very differently."

Jane searched Jacqueline's eyes for any indication that what had been there years ago still existed.

"Would you have ever said those things to me?" Jacqueline placed a hand on Jane's knee and waited for the young woman to test the idea.

"No, I wouldn't have," Jane placed a hand over that on her knee. "I didn't then for many reasons. You were…are…my boss. I was new here. The tabloids told me you were married, happily married, and I had no reason to think otherwise. It was entirely improbable and unfeasible. You weren't going to be interested in me. I would make a fool of myself. And I needed this job. I wanted to be here. You were…are…out of my league and I knew that. But the heart wants what it wants. Logic couldn't stop my infatuation. I said things—cringeworthy things—to my best friends who I trusted implicitly. They never would have repeated them and we rarely talked about it face-to-face. It would pass and we would move on."

There was disappointment on the blonde's face now. The mention of it passing and them moving on was sharp and difficult to hear. However, Jane hadn't intended it to be hurtful and she quickly recognized the disappointment for what it was.

"Moving on is easier said than done, I guess," she looked up and found Jacqueline genuinely surprised. "Does anyone ever get over Jacqueline Carlyle? Did Bobby?"

The editor laughed at this, standing and finding the other chair where she turned to face Jane. She missed the physical contact. Jane apparently did, too, because her hand was on Jacqueline's knee rather quickly.

"I don't believe he has," she smiled. "I have no interest in being wife number four."

Jane raised her eyebrows at this. She wouldn't have guessed he had been married as many times. Although, all she really knew about the man was that he had a peanut allergy.

"Are those emails going to be a problem?" the writer was serious.

"Mine or yours?" Jacqueline asked.

"Both?" Jane feared them equally yet for different reasons.

"It will blow over," she shrugged. "I can only control how I react and you can only control how you do."

Jacqueline's hand was now on Jane's wrist. It was anchoring them together to prevent a series of years-old emails from pulling them in different directions. This was the most honest, personal conversation they had enjoyed in months and the editor didn't want to lose this any more than she wanted to lose the exhilarating feeling that came with knowing Jane was once, maybe was still, attracted to her.

"And how would you like me to react?" Jane boldly asked.

There was a noticeable catch in the blonde's breathing and an incomprehensible expression.

"Jacqueline?" the brunette's heart was drumming against her chest wall.

The way the editor worried her bottom lip when she was contemplating something was adorably consistent. Jane had come to expect it. Usually she didn't have the opportunity to watch closely without discomfort when their eyes met or worry that other eyes might be watching her do it.

"You wrote that you thought I was the most beautiful woman you had even seen. 'Enchanting and elegant, mysterious and enticing,'" Jacqueline had clearly taken to heart the words Jane once shared with her friends about her.

"That sounds about right," Jane smiled.

"What did Kat and Sutton think?" Jacqueline was dying to know.

"That I was crazy?" Jane chuckled. "They understood the appeal, of course. Have you seen yourself? And you are brilliant. But they, too, understood the perils. They reminded me what was at stake and that _Scarlet _was my dream job. They endured me going on and on about you and encouraged me when I got involved with the boyfriend I had at the time. Their support got me through the strange heartache that came with not being able to have something I really wanted."

Instead of feeling bashful as she talked about that period of time in her life, Jane projected a form of relief at finally being able to talk about how she had felt to the person she'd felt that way for.

"I must admit I had no idea," Jacqueline stifled a smile when Jane's hand turned palm up to welcome the older woman's, their fingers intertwining as if they had done this hundreds of times before. "The way you looked at me seemed as if you were attempting to glean all that I could teach you. You were adorably awkward about it at times. I didn't know you were tripping over your feelings."

Jane thought again about their first meeting and how awestruck she was. In some ways that admiration and adoration of Jacqueline had never stopped.

"You seem okay with it," the writer noted.

"I'm flattered, _really_."

"But…" Jane rolled her eyes.

A disappointed sigh from the brunette, a slow leaning in from the editor, and then a soft puff of breath out of the blonde's mouth were preceded by Jacqueline's lips meeting Jane's. The younger woman's lips were supple with fruity undertones. She didn't want to push because she hadn't bravely asked if Jane still felt the way she once had. The kiss would be the answer, for good or bad. When she felt the subtle pressure of those lips accepting her own, Jacqueline found what she was looking for. Using her left hand, she touched the nape of Jane's neck and knew she had to pull away for fear this would get out of control, even more out of control than doing this in her office already was, and quickly. She left her hands where they were even as she retracted her lips from Jane's.

"I recognize I should have asked first if those feelings you held still existed," the blonde couldn't refrain from smiling in the afterglow of the kiss.

"Holding your hand wasn't statement enough?" Jane gave that hand a squeeze before releasing it and using it to brush Jacqueline's flushed cheek with her knuckles. "God, you are as enchanting and enticing as ever."

"What about mysterious?" Jacqueline hummed.

"A woman who never once let on that she was attracted to me and who used a poor, oblivious man to work out those feelings? Not to mention how quiet you keep your personal life. Mysterious may as well be your middle name."

It was Jane who leaned in to brush her lips against her boss's. It was unassuming yet thrilling.

"Perhaps we should be more careful," Jacqueline said as the kiss ended.

"About kissing in the office?" Jane nodded in agreement.

"I was going to say about what we reveal in our emails," the blonde chuckled that laugh that could turn Jane to mush in a matter of milliseconds. "Probably the kissing, too."

"As long as there will be more of it, I can agree to that."

"Oh, there will be more. I've refrained for long enough. I think you have, too," Jacqueline was ready to stand when she stopped herself. "For a woman who writes about the most intimate parts of her life, you retain some mystery."

"I can't tell my editor everything," Jane winked.

"No, I suppose you couldn't. I hope that will begin to change," Jacqueline was relaxed and said this with confidence. "Not to your editor, though, but to the woman who is captivated by you."

They both stood and Jacqueline began collecting her things so that she could finally get out of the office after the work day from hell.

"Are you saying you weren't captivated before?" Jane smirked.

"Hmm…I suppose I was, wasn't I?" she had a way of making Jane revert to that speechless young intern that couldn't process the fact that she was meeting Jacqueline Carlyle.

Jane followed Jacqueline to the door and turned off the light as the older woman's hand found the door pull. Instead of pulling, the woman leaned down and pressed a firm, lingering kiss to the brunette's lips before she let her get away.

The editor-in-chief of _Scarlet_ magazine would exit the building for the first time in two days without the server hack on her mind.

_-finis-_


End file.
